Life As An Other
by Are We Human
Summary: A young girl who ends up on the island with no recollection of how she got there is forced to live with and befriend the Others. Set three years before the actual crash. Eventual BenOC.
1. Beginning

_And I heard_

_As it were_

_The noise of thunder_

_One of the four beasts_

_Saying come and see_

_And I saw_

_And behold_

_A white horse_

_"Don't make this harder then it already is, JennA."_

_"Listen to him. Don't make a fool outta' yourself again, girl."_

_"Just keep your hand's up in the air, and this'll all be over soon."_

_"Yeah, you do just that. Now, maybe you could answer our question?"_

_"We're waiting, Jenna."_

-

It must have been around seven o'clock in the morning when I was washed up onto the shore. I opened my eyes, and closed them again briefly. After a couple of seconds, I sat up and looked around me. Before I could get my bearings, I was already coughing up salt water. I coughed violently for a few minutes before attempting to stand up.

I glanced around desperatedly, but there was noone around. Scared now, I began walking towards a jungle-like area, and forced my way through the throng of trees. I began to run as fast as I could, not knowing what else to do. It was then that I tripped over and fell head first. Before I'd had the chance to get to my feet, however, I heard a loud click, and looked up sharply.

My heart sank.

A young guy was standing over me, but my attention then turned to the nine millimeter pistol he was carrying. It was pointed straight at me.

I'd never been held at gun point in my life before that day. This wouldn't be the last time, though. I'd have more guns in my mouth later, but I didn't know that at that moment. All I could think about was the fact that it was just him and me, and that all that seperated us at that moment in time was a gun.


	2. The Others

_And I heard_

_As it were_

_The noise of thunder_

_One of the four beasts_

_Saying come and see_

_And I saw_

_And behold_

_A white horse_

_"Don't make this harder then it already is, JennA."_

_"Listen to him. Don't make a fool outta' yourself again, girl."_

_"Just keep your hand's up in the air, and this'll all be over soon."_

_"Yeah, you do just that. Now, maybe you could answer our question?"_

_"We're waiting, Jenna."_

-

It must have been around seven o'clock in the morning when I was washed up onto the shore. I opened my eyes, and closed them again briefly. After a couple of seconds, I sat up and looked around me. Before I could get my bearings, I was already coughing up salt water. I coughed violently for a few minutes before attempting to stand up.

I glanced around desperatedly, but there was noone around. Scared now, I began walking towards a jungle-like area, and forced my way through the throng of trees. I began to run as fast as I could, not knowing what else to do. It was then that I tripped over and fell head first. Before I'd had the chance to get to my feet, however, I heard a loud click, and looked up sharply.

My heart sank.

A young guy was standing over me, but my attention then turned to the nine millimeter pistol he was carrying. It was pointed straight at me.

I'd never been held at gun point in my life before that day. This wouldn't be the last time, though. I'd have more guns in my mouth later, but I didn't know that at that moment. All I could think about was the fact that it was just him and me, and that all that seperated us at that moment in time was a gun.

-

"Don't fucking move."

I couldn't move. All I could do was sit there and watch as he took another step towards me. I think he started talking then but I couldn't hear a word he said. There was a strange, abnormal ringing in my ears. Was he going to kill me? Was I going to die right here and now, at the hands of some scruffy looking guy I'd never even seen before in my life?

"How did you get here? Who are you?" He barked at me, coming even closer and pointing the gun down at me so it was almost pressed against my head.

Somehow, I found my voice. "Please, I - I don't - don't know.."

He listened intently as I cast around for the right words to say, or for any words to say. After a few lame attempts however, he motioned for me to stop. I looked up at him, wondering what was going to happen next. I still didn't know who he was, or why he was pointing that gun in my face. What had I done to deserve that? I didn't even know where I was or how I'd got there.

I couldn't even see him that clearly anymore. My ears were ringing, and my head was pounding. I raised a hand gingerly up to feel and winced in pain. I brought my hand up to my face and saw that it was covered in blood.

Whatever he said after that I never heard, because at the sight of the fresh blood on my hand I blacked out completely.

-

When I finally came to I was laying flat on my back, looking up at the clear blue sky. I winced slightly and blinked rapidly a few times, then noticed the small crowd gathering around me and standing over me. They were all a blur, and I couldn't quite hear what they were saying. I finally got the strength and sat up, reaching up to my forehead. It was still bleeding.

"Don't try to move much, I think you've got a concussion," Someone said, a youngish woman by the sound of it, and suddenly her hands were on my head and feeling the cut. I cried out and gritted my teeth as she did so. "You're going to need a couple of stitches for that." She added.

Everything was now coming back into focus. More people were gathering round to get a good look at me as I sat there. There must have been about two dozen of them, maybe more now that I think about it. I looked around but they were all in the way so I couldn't really see past them.

"Where the.. where am I? What.. what are you.. who are you..?" I groaned, coughing.

"Try to relax, don't move too much," The woman repeated, completely ignoring my questions. She set about attending to the wound, when suddenly she stopped and seemed to freeze. So did everyone, and they all stopped looking at me, and turned to look at someone else. I couldn't quite see who they were all looking at, but it was definitely a man, middle-aged I guessed. He began to walk slowly towards us, and everyone moved aside so he could pass through. He came to a stop infront of us and stood right over me, staring at me wide-eyed. I looked up and felt a sudden chill, there was something about him, something in his eyes, that suddenly unnerved me.

"You can all leave us now." He said, in a somewhat cold manner. Everyone started to move away, and when they did I could see exactly where we were. My mouth fell open. It was a small village of some sort. There were around five small bungalows, and around them people were playing tennis, sitting out on porches listening to the radio, and young children were running around while parents stood by with smiles on their faces. The man looked down at me again, then at the woman. "Where did she come from?"

"Ethan found her, On the beach," The woman explained whilst stitching up the wound on my forehead, "He didn't say much else. He's exhausted from carrying her all the way down here."

"I see," The man said quietly, taking all of this in, "When you're finished with that, come see me, Annabelle. There's something I need to discuss with you."

"Sure, Ben," The woman named Annabelle replied, looking up at him and flashing him a small smile. He didn't return it, and merely turned and walked off. I could see people staring as he walked away, and Annabelle looked back at me and sighed. "Almost done here.." She said slowly, concentrating hard. Before long, my head felt a lot better and I wasn't dizzy anymore.

"Where are we? What is this place?" I asked her, my heart pounding in my ears.

"I can't tell you anything," Annabelle said, somewhat impatiently, then motioned at someone behind us. "You'll have to go now, and answer a few questions."

Before I could protest three large men had came up behind me and grabbed me by my arms. I cried out and tried to break free from their grip, and even managed to bite one of them on their hand. I realised this was a mistake when one of them drew a gun and pointed it right at me.

"Don't try anything stupid." He growled. Somehow I found the strength to nod.

-

They took me to one of the five small bungalows. Ethan grabbed my shoulder and pushed me into a chair. I suddenly felt another man, larger and seemingly older than Ethan, handcuff me from behind. "It's for our personal safety," He chortled.

"Now, to business.." He said after a moment, grabbing the nearest chair, turning it the other way and sitting down, "You might wanna start at the beginning. But first of all, what's your name? And how exactly did find your way onto the beach?"

I stole a cold look at him but he only sneered. I saw Ethan draw closer to us from behind him but then the other man motioned for him to stay where he was. Ethan seemed displeased about this but stayed in the shadows. He wasn't very attractive, there was something rigid about his face, and cold. He looked like an ex-con to me. His hair was dark and greasy and fell into his eyes. He was holding a 9mm gun, which I knew he would use if I didn't try to calm down and answer their questions.

"I.." And then it hit me. I had no clue about where I was or how I'd gotten there. I'd just woken up there, on the beach, with no recollection of how I'd ended up there. I guessed it was the concussion, I had hit my head pretty bad out there. "I.. don't know."

The older man raised his eyebrows. "You don't know what your name is?"

"I - I mean, I don't know how I got here." I struggled to say, stealing glances at Ethan out of the corner of my eye, "My name's.. Jenna."

"Good start," He replied to this, "How old are you, Jenna?"

"Eighteen," I said at once. He didn't appear to react to this for a moment, but then a broad smile crept onto his face.

"Eighteen, right.." He said, "So! You're probably wondering who the hell we are, and where you are, huh Jenna?" He added, looking as though he was thoroughly enjoying this interegation. I nodded, "Well, the answers will be given to you in good time. Now, you say you can't remember.. anything?" When I nodded again he frowned. "Right.. well, you don't look like a threat to anyone. But you're gonna have to stay here for a while until we eh, figure out what to do with you."

Suddenly, the door opened. The man called Ben stepped into the room, and the other man fell silent. Ethan suddenly looked alert and backed off slightly. "Hey, Ben.. we were just -- I think she's lying, but.."

"Enough, Ethan." Ben said, waving a hand dismissively at him, "Go, both of you." The two men exchanged nervous glances and both left without another word. Ben then fixed on me and walked slowly towards me. "Who are you?" He asked.

"Jenna." I said simply. I was tired and hungry. I decided to just answer his questions and hope that I'd recieve a free meal in return.

"Well, Jenna, I'm Ben. And I'm wondering how you came to be on the beach." He went on, glancing at me suspiciously.

"I've already said, I don't know how I ended up there. I can't rememeber anything. I think it was the conc--"

"It doesn't matter," Ben interjected, "But we will have to interogate you further until we can decide what we're going to do with you." He added, almost echoing the other man's words, "The two men here before me, their names are Tom and Ethan." I didn't know what to say to this. He smiled but his eyes were moving up and down my body, "Relax Jenna, we're all friends here, Nobody's going to be keeping you in the dark."

"Friends?" I spat, angry now. I tried to sit up properly and remembered that I couldn't, "One of your _friends _pointed a fucking gun in my face! I swear to god, I know people in high places. My father.."

Ben chuckled, "Threats won't work on me, Jenna. Now, if you'll just try to calm down, I'll explain to you exactly what's going to happen here." He walked slowly towards me and knelt down. He barely had to look up, I was quite petite for my age. "You have no recollection of how you came to be here, right? Well, for now, I don't know whether you're lying to me or telling the truth." I said nothing to this, and he went on, with a dark look in his eyes. "You're young, Jenna, and for that I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt. But you seem like an intelligent girl, and if I'm right in assuming this, then I'm sure you wouldn't want to land yourself in a _dangerous _situation."

He emphasised on the word "_dangerous" _so much that I shivered slightly. Then he stood up and backed away. "L-look, Mister, I - I wouldn't lie --" I stuttered. Funny, a few moments ago I had been cool and confident and now I was so scared I couldn't think straight.

By now he was walking towards the door, but when I spoke he stopped dead and looked back at me, that dark look still in his eyes. "For your sake, Jenna, I really hope not." He finished quietly, nodding at me and leaving, shutting the door behind him.

I couldn't decide whether to remain calm or start screaming, so I did a little of both. I began to try to make sense of my situation, tried to remember exactly what I'd been doing before.. well, before the _crash, _or.. well, whatever I'd been doing before I'd ended up on the beach. When I failed at that, I simply broke down into tears.

-

My eyes flew open. Tom was standing over me with a stupid smirk on his face. Honestly, if my legs hadn't have been tied down I'd have kicked him. He looked like an asshole, standing there with a big grin on his face. I stopped quietly judging him for a moment to have a quick look at him. I couldn't quite guess his age, he looked about fifty, maybe a little older. He was quite large, my eyes fell upon his beer belly for a second before for some odd reason going up to look at his outfit. For some odd reason, everyone I'd seen so far were all wearing the same sort of outfit. Maybe it was a uniform? I didn't understand these people or what they were doing, and couldn't really be bothered figuring them out.

"Could you atleast untie me?" I asked. I saw him smirk again, and added quickly: "I won't try to run."

He raised his eyebrows at me, "You don't look too threatening." He joked, and began to untie me. I thought about kicking him, but knew it would get me nowhere. I was already in a pretty dangerous situation, and knew better than to fuck it all up.

"You need a shower. And something to eat, maybe. You look exhausted." Tom remarked after finally untieing me, glancing at me and shaking his head.

"Thanks," I said sarcastically, standing up and stretching, "I don't expect you give me any of that, though."

Tom laughed and offered me a crooked smile that I didn't even bother returning. "You know, Jenna, you seem pretty cool about all this. I pictured someone your age screaming and trying to bargain with us or something."

"How do you know I haven't been in this sort of situation before?" I replied, catching him off guard. He frowned and gave me a strange look. "Anyway, do I get a shower or what? And I'm fucking starving."

"Easy on the language, lady," Tom answered coolly, "Follow me. But I warn you, if you try anything stupid, I'll have to break your arm."

I didn't reply to this, so he grabbed hold of my arm, opened the door and led me outside. Everyone stopped to stare at us as we walked along, past many small bungalows until we finally came to a stop outside a slightly larger one. "Is this your house?" I asked, glancing up at it.

"I wish," Tom muttered, "This is Ben's place. He's letting you use his shower, and you'll get a sandwich or something to eat too."

"Wow, talk about hospitality.." I mumbled, as his grip on my arm tightened and we began to walk up to the house. Once inside, I looked around, and was amazed. For a place located in what seemed like the middle of nowhere, these guys certainly had it all. Electricity, plumbing, even a television set. It looked even better than my father's place.

Tom obviously saw that I was impressed. "Yeah, it's pretty sweet, isn't it? Shower's to your left, there's a sandwich already over there on the bench ready for after. And Jenna..." He leaned in towards me, trying to appear menacing, "You won't try to escape or anything, will you?"

"Why would I do that?" I muttered sarcastically.

Tom chuckled, "Oh, good. But just incase, I'll stick around here for a while until Ben gets back. Go on, then." He added, indicating somewhere to my left. I sighed and began walking to my left til I reached the bathroom. I stepped inside and closed the door behind me, locking it. I wasn't going to escape, I knew nothing about this island and I wasn't going to get myself killed. For now I'd just stick around, use the shower and eat the food. I'd figure out what I was going to do later.

-

About a half hour later I was getting out of the shower. I felt surprisingly refreshed, and now quite confident. After completely breaking down, I'd decided that I wasn't going to get upset just yet. I was too strong for that, I'd always been strong and I wasn't going to let this get the better of me. I reached for a towel and began to dry myself off, before grabbing my clothes and putting them back on. I'd just opened the bathroom door when I heard an unfamiliar voice coming from down the hall.

"Daddy? Daddy? You there?" It was calling. I stepped out into the hallway and glanced to where the voice was coming from. A little girl was standing beside the front door, presumably calling for Ben as afterall it was his house. She spotted me and stopped dead, her jaw dropping open. "Umm, who - who are you?" She asked with a tentative look on her face.

I suddenly felt awful, I didn't want to scare the girl, so I kept my distance. At the same time I wondered where Tom was, I'm sure I remembered him saying he was going to stay and wait for me to finish my shower. "Umm, I'm.. your uh, dad didn't tell you?" I muttered, feeling awkward. The girl slowly shook her head, "Well, I'm.. I'm Jenna, your dad'll beable to explain.. my being here, better to you, probably.."

She stared blankly back at me. "I don't understand, I've never ever seen you around here before. Did you come on the boat?" She asked, brightening slightly.

I froze, taking this in. A _boat? What_ _boat? _

"Um, a boat? You guys have a boat?" I found myself asking her.

"Yeah! Sometimes, people come from places in the boat. Places really far away from here. Places I've never even been to!" She said, looking around the room thoughtfully, "Like that blonde woman. I thought you might have come with her. She just got here three days ago.. so if you didn't come on the boat, then how did you get here?" She asked, turning her attention back to me.

"It's a really long story, kid," I groaned, rubbing my forehead. I was really tired, and just wanted to sleep. I noticed the sandwich sitting there on the bench and stared longingly at it for a few moments. The girl must have noticed me staring at it, because she looked over to see what I was looking at. She noticed the sandwich and walked over to the bench, removing the tin foil and picking up the plate.

"Oh, okay. I'm just gonna eat this and then go out and find my dad, is that okay?" She enquired, taking a big bite out of the sandwich.

I sighed. "I.. guess so." I said quietly.

"Okay. Hey, what's your name, anyway? Are you staying with us?" She was firing questions at me and I didn't know how to react, never mind answer them. I looked right at her and slowly shook my head. I suddenly felt dizzy, funny how just a few minutes earlier I'd been feeling refreshed, and now here was this girl stealing my meal and asking too many questions..

"I'm.. Jenna." I managed to say.

The girl's face lit up. "Really? That's a nice name! There aren't many people my age around here, you know. You don't look much older than me. How old are you, anyway?"

"Uhh, eight - eighteen." I answered, my head spinning.

"Really? I'm only thirteen. I don't get why there aren't that many kids around here. It gets on my nerves sometimes." She muttered, frowning.

"That so.." I said pensively, not too interested, "I'm just gonna go and um, lie down.. my head hurts."

The girl stared at me suspiciously for a moment before nodding, "Okay. Oh, I'm Alex. It was really nice meeting you, by the way. I hope you're staying with us for a while, it'd be pretty cool to have someone more my age around here."

I offered her a small smile and turned, walking back down the hall, trying to find the nearest bedroom. I finally found one and flopped back onto the bed, falling asleep instantly.

-

_"Jenna! Jenna! Oh for fuck's sake, Jenna! I'm going to be late!"_

_A young girl of around thirteen came running down the stairs, coming to a halt beside her mother. She had long brown hair and bright green eyes, and was dressed casually and wearing a rucksack. "Sorry, mom.." She mumbled, heaving the rucksack over her shoulder and following her mother towards the front door._

_"This is the third time this week! Can't you ever be fucking ready to go?" Her mother exclaimed, cursing under her breath as she grabbed for a wad of money that had been sitting on the small table beside the door, "Listen. Your Dad'll pick you up after school. I've got some things I need to do, okay?"_

_"Sure, sure," Jenna squeaked, trying not to appear interested or like she was listening. But as soon as her mother said this, she felt her skin crawl. For the last month or so, her mother had only been able to pick her up from school about once a week, and it was becoming tiresome. What was so important that she couldn't even pick her own daughter up after school?_

_"Good girl," Her mother mumbled, stuffing the wad of money into her pocket, "C'mon, let's go. C'mon! I'm late enough as it is.." _

-

When I woke up, it was dark outside. I could just hear the cricket's buzzing outside, and the owls hooting in the far distance. I slowly sat up and reached up gingerly to feel my head. The stitches were still there. I suppose I had hoped for it to be a dream. I glanced around the room. It was dark, which gave me chills. I wondered why nobody had come to wake me up.

I stood up and crept over to the door. I pushed it slightly and it creaked open. I glanced down the hall, and saw that a couple of lights were on, meaning someone was home. I then heard loud voices, one of them Tom's, then another that I recognised to be Ben's. They were bickering over something, I couldn't quite make out what. Swallowing hard, I stepped out of the bedroom and began walking slowly down the hallway towards them. They caught sight of me and stopped argueing at once, glancing at me with wide eyes.

"Jenna. We were just talking about you." Ben said, smiling at me.

"I guessed," I muttered, "Look.. your -- daughter, said you guys have a boat. A boat that makes it so people can come and go from here. Could you use it to take me home?" I asked, knowing it was a long shot.

That insane smile lit up Ben's features once again, and he laughed. "Jenna, we don't know who you are. For all we know you could be a criminal. You ended up on our island, and we don't know why. We're not letting you leave until we know everything about you."

I stared at him. It actually took me a few minutes to take in what he was saying. "_What? _You can't keep me here! I already told you, I don't know how the fuck I got here! I'm not a criminal, I'm fucking eighteen years old!" I exclaimed incredulously, waving my arms around. And I didn't normally have a short fuse.

"Don't use that kind of language with me, Jenna," He said calmly, and there was something so cold and menacing about his tone that just made me shut up. I stared at him, wondering who he was and if he had control over everyone on the island. There must have been hundreds of them when I first arrived, a little village full of people, all wearing the same uniform. But when Ben had come onto the scene they'd all made way for him, looking afraid of him. Well, nobody had ever had any control over me, and I wasn't going to let him get the better of me.

"What do you want from me?" I hissed, glaring at Tom out of the corner of my eye, who was standing by looking quite bemused.

"I don't want anything from you, Jenna, I just want to know who you are," Ben answered, the nasty tone now gone from his voice, "And until I know exactly who you are, I'm afraid I can't let you go home." He looked triumphant now, it must have been my horrified expression which let him know that he had won this round. He then turned to Tom, "Get her a sandwich."


	3. Juliet

_"Hey, baby!"_

_Jenna turned quickly to see her father jogging up to her. He grinned broadly as he caught up to her and patted her on the shoulder. "Oh, hey, Daddy." Jenna said, giving him a small smile as they began the walk back to her father's car. _

_"How was school?" He asked, ushering her across the street, "Everything okay with you now?"_

_Jenna mumbled something that was almost inaudible and her father glanced at her questioningly, until she noticed and said, "Oh, yeah. Everything's great. But, daddy.." She caught hold of his sleeve, "What's up with Mom? You gotta tell me."_

_-_

_Barry Close had watched his daughter grow up, and until a few months ago she had never shown any signs of being unhappy. He had guessed it was the divorce, had put it down to Jenna feeling torn at the thought of her parents splitting up. And then he realised that she was now thirteen, and that she wasn't his little girl anymore. She'd picked up on things, things that would surely hurt her if she knew about them. _

_Sadie hadn't been able to find a job since she'd been fired from the store. Barry hadn't known that she was having real financial problems until about two weeks ago. He'd offered to give her money but she'd refused, claiming that she look after her own daughter. They'd argued after that, Barry had refused to leave until Sadie told him what was going on. And then she told him. Prostitution. She was making a living through prostitution. Well, Barry had gotten angry and told her she couldn't bring up a child while doing that. Sadie had thrown him out of the house._

_And now, as he looked down at his daughter, He couldn't bring himself to tell her and ruin her life. He couldn't bear to think of the impact it would have on her, or the embarressment it would cause her at school if it ever got public. So, he simply looked at her, smiled that cheesy grin he saved especially for her, and said: "Nothing's wrong, honey. She's just been stressed out, you know, what with the divorce.."_

-

_Jenna stared up at her father and knew from her intution that there was something he wasn't telling her. Still, she shrugged it off and tried to act like she was completely clueless of what was going on. She knew her mother was in some sort of trouble. She was tired of being lied to. She needed to know what was going on._

-

"Hey there."

I looked up to see a young blonde woman standing over me, hands on her hips. I recognised her as Annabelle, the woman who had stitched up the wound on my forehead earlier. "Yes?" I answered sharply, turning away from her and glancing back at the fire. To my surprise, she sat down beside me.

"You're not in any danger, if that's what you think." She said quietly, glancing around warily as she said it, "If you were, you'd have been dealt with a while ago."

"Thanks for reassuring me," I said sarcastically, turning to face her, "Please, just give it to me straight. Who _are _you people? And what have I done to deserve this?" Before she could answer I continued, "Why the hell are you being so nice to me anyway? You know what? I'm through with being patient and nice, And that fucking guy Ben--"

"Keep your goddamn voice down, and don't ever talk about Ben like that," Annabelle warned me.

To my surprise, I laughed.

"Come on, kid," Ethan barked, startling the both us, "You'll be camping out here with me tonight. So I can keep an eye on you."

"Yet everyone else gets to sleep _indoors_," I said incredulously, glancing at Annabelle, who was still eyeing me suspiciously after I'd chuckled at her last remark. I don't know, I suppose I just found it so amusing that so many people could be led by one small person. And yes, he was small, and I guessed in every single way, too.

"Yeah, there a problem?" Ethan responded arrogantly.

I slowly shook my head.

Annabelle snorted. "Well, you guys had better get moving, then. It's definitely way past your bedtime now, _kid_." She scoffed, raising her eyebrows at me and getting to her feet. "Night Ethan," She said, turning to Ethan and smiling sweetly to him. Then she turned back to me, a fleeting look of satisfaction on her face. With that she turned on her heel and walked away from us.

I turned back to Ethan who was grinning broadly.

"I suppose she's your girlfriend?" I enquired.

"You know, for a girl of your age you've got some pretty smart ass remarks coming out of you."

"Oh, I _do_ apologise."

We stood there in silence for a long while. I could already tell he was onto me. They all were, after all I was the new kid in town. I was still trying to grasp the fact that I might be here for a while yet. It was a frightening thought. I just wanted to rest, maybe even sleep if I could manage it, and try to forget everything for a few hours. I'd work out my situation in the morning. There was nothing for me to do in the meantime.

"Come on, let's move." Ethan said, breaking the silence.

"Where are we going?" I asked, slowly getting to my feet.

His face split in a malevolent grin. "Into the --" He began, but at that moment we were interrupted by a young woman who had seemingly appeared from nowhere. She walked up to us, a smile on her face. "Juliet, what are you -- ?"

"Don't start, Ethan," Juliet said calmly, raising a hand dismissively at him, "Hi. We haven't met, I'm Juliet." She said in that same calm, yet slightly eerie tone of voice. She then extended her hand out towards me and I shook it, glancing uncertainly at her.

"We were just going into --" Ethan tried again, but Juliet interrupted him.

"It's kinda' cold tonight, don't you think? Maybe.."

She stopped suddenly, and I realised this was my cue.

"I'm.. Jenna." I said quietly.

"Really nice to meet you, Jenna," Juliet responded, still smiling, "Anyway, I think maybe Jenna should come back with me tonight. You know, it's her first night here and she's probably feeling, you know.." She broke off at a wary look from Ethan.

"Juliet, you just moved in there. There's still boxes piled up to the ceiling, how are you gonna fit her in?" He asked, gritting his teeth to show that he wasn't too pleased.

Juliet merely tilted her head at him. "Yeah, but there's still plenty of room. And I'm sure Jenna would much rather bunk with me than with a large, sweaty man like yourself." She replied, smiling sweetly. My jaw dropped. Ethan looked astounded.

Deciding that I had new found respect for this Juliet, I backed away from Ethan, "She's got a point." I added, biting my lip and trying hard not to laugh. Ethan's look of utter shock was replaced by one of boiling rage.

"Juliet, I've got orders from Ben. Jenna's got to come with me." He said sharply.

"I'm sure he won't mind too much," Juliet responded, then she turned to me. "Come on, it's not too far from here.."

I obliged and followed her, not forgetting to look back over my shoulder at Ethan and yell, "Night!"

Juliet chuckled. "I take it you're not exactly enjoying this experience?"

"No, not really.." I murmered, surveying her as she walked infront of me. My eyes suddenly fell upon her lower back, where I noticed the gun sticking out of her pants. I looked around to check if anyone else was nearby and then my eyes fell back to the gun. This woman, Juliet, looked around thirty years old, give or take a few years. However, the difference between her and the others was that she wasn't wearing the same dark uniform. She looked normal, and stuck out from the rest of them. However, I wondered if this was just a cover up to disguise the fact that she was really 'the top boss' or something. While I was debating this theory in my head, she turned swiftly, making me stop abruptly.

"Don't mind Ethan," She said softly, "I don't like him, either."

"Oh, okay.." I muttered, "Where are we going?"

"Back to my place," She said coolly, turning away from me, "You can stay there for tonight. It just didn't seem right leaving you out there with Ethan. He gives me the creeps, really. There's just something funny about him.."

Though I didn't trust her for a second, I had to agree. From the first moment I'd set eyes on him, Ethan had seemed like a strange and quirky character. And as I had looked back to say goodnight, he had smirked at me and made a rude hand gesture.

"He seems like a complete idiot," I answered, baffled at how anyone on the island could even put up with him.

"Yeah," Juliet said quietly, walking ahead. My eyes fell upon the gun again, and I began to get nervous. She didn't seem genuine, there was something strange and eerie about her that didn't sit well with me. Not knowing what else to do, I caught right up to her, grabbed the gun and threw my arm around her neck, pointing the gun at her head.

"What the _f--_" She cried, before I clamped my free hand over her mouth.

"I washed up on shore this morning, and you know what? I found myself in a similar situation to the one you're in right now." I whispered, not feeling an ounce of regret for what I was doing as I watched the tears streaming down her cheeks. "And for the most part you people have been treating me like shit. Now, I know there's a boat somewhere. I want you to let me leave." I said, tears welling up in my own eyes, "Please." I added quickly, taking my hand away from her mouth.

For a moment she stood there, motionless, breathing hard. I thought she might be having some sort of attack, but after a few seconds she stopped and closed her eyes. "If you want me to talk, I'll talk. Just let go of me." She said, her voice cracking.

I removed my arm from around her neck, though I was still pointing the gun at her. She made no effort whatsoever to grab it out of my hands. Instead, her legs began to buckle and she walked shakily over to a nearby tree, leaning up against it. I could see that she was still in tears, could hear her sobbing quietly. I suddenly felt guilty, and I had never felt an ounce of guilt in me entire life.

I lowered the gun and began walking towards her when she suddenly began to cry out, "Stop! Don't come near me!" I stood back, bewildered. I held up my hand and dropped the gun. Juliet looked at me, then at the gun laying at my feet. "Why did you do that?"

"I.. Didn't know what else to do," I confessed, "Look, I wasn't going to hurt you. I just want to get out of here. I can't even remember how I got here! And - and now it's like I'm a prisoner. I just want to go home.." I spluttered, tears rolling down my cheeks. I wiped them away hastily and looked up at her.

"Jenna, you're telling the wrong person," Juliet sighed, "I just arrive here three days ago. On the submarine that you mentioned. I'm as much in the dark as you are." She managed to regain control, stood up straight and walked over to me, bending down to retrieve her gun. "You never know when one of these might come in handy." She said, and I couldn't help but smile.

"I don't get it, why did you come here? Or better yet, _why _would you come here?"

She looked taken aback at my question. "It's a long story, a very long story. I'm a Doctor, and _they _came to me with a proposition. They wanted me to join Mittelos Bioscience, supposedly situated in Portland, Oregon. I ended up taking the job and.. and then I ended up here.." She looked back, as if expecting someone to be standing right behind us. "_He, _Ethan I mean, brought me here. On the sub. But it's fine so far.. and there were too many bad memories.."

She stopped and smiled weakly at me. I stared at the gun, "But if you've been here three days, then how come they're letting you use a gun?" I asked, my eyes widening.

"Ben trusts me," She said quickly, "He's a good man, Jenna. And he's giving me a chance." She said in serious tones. Then she lightened up, "And also, to protect myself. Everyone needs to have a gun on them, you don't know what's out there in the jungle, do you?" She said, heaving a deep sigh. "But I wouldn't know how to use one of these things, anyway.."

"I would," I said, "I could teach you, if you want."

Juliet looked surprised, "You know how to shoot a gun? You can't be older than seventeen."

"Eighteen," I corrected her, "And believe me, I've got pretty good aim."

She chuckled, "Listen, we'd better get back. And don't worry, you're going to get out of here. They're just a little wary of you, I think."

"Thanks," I said, smiling at her.

We stood there in silence for a while before heading back.


End file.
